print random letters(LinkedList)

[nickdimi]

hi everyone..
In this program i created a LinkedList('lettersLeft') in which I add Letters('Letters' is a class).Each letter has 3 values :1)which is that letter(ie 'A'),2)the times it appears in the game(ie '9'),3)the points you get (ie '1').Also, with getNextLetter() i get the next random letter from the bag. I want to make a for loop that will print me 2 random letters from the bag with their values(ie "A,9,1 D,4,2"). This is my code(if you dont understand something ask)
Letters_bag:

public class Letters_bag {

public static final Letters A = new Letters('a', 9, 1);
public static final Letters B = new Letters('b', 2, 3);
public static final Letters C = new Letters('c', 2, 3);
public static final Letters D = new Letters('d', 4, 2);
public static final Letters E = new Letters('e', 12, 1);
public static final Letters F = new Letters('f', 2, 4);


public static final Letters[] allLetters = new Letters[] {
    Letters_bag.A,
    Letters_bag.B,
    Letters_bag.C,
    Letters_bag.D,
    Letters_bag.E,
    Letters_bag.F,

};


LinkedList<Letters> lettersLeft = new LinkedList();


public Letters_bag() {
    // add all the letters
    addLetter(A);
    addLetter(B);
    addLetter(C);
    addLetter(D);
    addLetter(E);
    addLetter(F);

}

// helper method to add the letters
private void addLetter(Letters sl) {
    for (int i=0;i<sl.getCount();i++) {
        this.lettersLeft.add(sl);
    }
}
 /**
 *Returns the next random letter from the bag.
 */
Letters getNextLetter() {
    // shuffle those letters
    Collections.shuffle(lettersLeft);
    // return a random letter
    return lettersLeft.removeFirst();
}

}

Letters:

public class Letters {
private char value;
private int count;
private int points;

public Letters(char value, int count, int points) {
    this.value = value;
    this.count = count;
    this.points = points;
}

public char getValue() {
    return value;
}

public int getCount() {
    return count;
}


public int getPoints() {
    return points;
}

I think it is something with the Collections.shuffle but i cant figure out how to put it in a for loop.Any ideas are welcome.

[pbrockway2]

Hi nickdimi, welcome to the Forums.

When you post code use the "code" tags. Put [code] at the start of the code and [/code] at the end. This will mean that the code ends up properly formatted.

I want to make a for loop that will print me 2 random letters from the bag with their values(ie "A,9,1 D,4,2").

So what problem are you having? There seem to be various aspects to this:
* having the for loop do something twice
* inside the for loop, obtaining an instance of Letters
* printing the Letters obtained

Collections.shuffle() is a good way to randomise the list, but it only need happen once, for example in the constructor after the list contents have been added.

[nickdimi]

Thnks for your answer.Itried this and i think it works..

 Letters getNextLetter(int k) {
        Collections.shuffle(lettersLeft);
       return lettersLeft.removeFirst();
    }

and in main:

 for (int i=0;i<7;i++){

            System.out.println(  sb.getNextLetter(i));
         
         }

but it prints something like this 'game2.Letters@de6ced',this is my toString

public String toString() { 
return "Letters_bag{" + "lettersLeft=" + lettersLeft + '}';}

..do you know why this happens?

[pbrockway2]

it prints something like this 'game2.Letters@de6ced'

What you are seeing is the default Java way of printing an object. You need to provide Letters with a toString() that provides a nicer string. (Or have the Letters_bag toString() do the formatting itself using the Letters getter methods to obtain what it wants to print.)

import java.util.Collections;
import java.util.LinkedList;

public class FooList {
    private LinkedList<Foo> list;
    
    FooList() {
        list = new LinkedList<Foo>();
        list.add(new Foo(666));
        list.add(new Foo(42));
        list.add(new Foo(-1));
        Collections.shuffle(list);
    }
	
    public String toString() {
        return "FooList{the list is " + list + "}";
    }
	
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.out.println(new FooList());
    }
}

class Foo {
    int value;
    Foo(int v) {value = v;}
	
    public String toString() {
        return "value=" + value;
    }
}

[nickdimi]

i cant understand how toString is really working..anyway this is what the IDE generates

 public String toString() {
        return "Letters_bag{" + "lettersLeft=" + lettersLeft + '}';
    }

is it wrong?